Auditor's report: Commercial

Last year we stated: "It is rare to find a sales and marketing function that has embraced sustainability with such vigour." And this has not changed. However, the business climate has changed and this has led to several of commercial's sustainability targets not being met. We accept that a delay to the deadline for some targets is a reasonable response. We also find that ambitious growth plans for sustainable advertising network revenues are indicative of the increasing importance of sustainability-related revenue to the commercial side of the Guardian's operations. The launch of diversity-related services and Guardian Sustainable Business show how embedded sustainability is in this part of the business.

As the editorial department's approach to mutualisation develops, we believe it will be important for the commercial departments to determine how they will adapt to this new world. Some steps have already been taken, such as open platform. As this approach accelerates, it will become increasingly important not just to find new revenue streams, but to ensure they are aligned to the Guardian's values.

There is a continuing need to ensure that the eco:metrics' underlying data is sufficiently robust to enable clients to make reliable decisions about choices based on CO2 impact.